Ekalavyan (film)

Ekalavyan is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by Renji Panicker, starring Suresh Gopi in the lead role along with Siddique, Geetha, Narendra Prasad, Vijayaraghavan, Ganesh Kumar, Janardhanan, Madhu, Maathu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Pappu, and Devan in other pivotal roles.[1][2] The movie is an inspiration for the 2014 Hindi movie Singham Returns.[3][4]

Ekalavyan
Poster
Directed byShaji Kailas
Produced byP. V. Gangadharan
Written byRenji Panicker
StarringSuresh Gopi
Music byRajamani
CinematographyRavi K. Chandran
Edited byL. Bhoominathan
Production
company
Grahalakshmi Productions
Distributed byKalpaka Release
Release date
1993
Running time
159 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget1.35 crores INR
Box office9 crores INR

Plot

Swami Amoorthananda (Narendra Prasad), a psychotic holy godman with strong international connections, also runs a powerful narcotic drug mafia in the state. He also has several connections within political circles. A good orator, Swami, also draws many devotees from abroad, and many are slowly turned into addicts. A series of murders at Kovalam beach invites sharp criticism of the govt and the chief minister (Madhu) decides to bring a new head to the state narcotics wing. Madhavan IPS (Suresh Gopi), thus, arrives in Kerala from New Delhi and is assisted by Sharath Chandran (Siddique), a smart CI of Kerala police. Madhavan's aggressive way of investigation leads him to the ashram of Swami Amoorthananda, which creates a panic in the state. Swami decides to eliminate Madhavan and also plans to topple the CM by appointing his aide, Velayudhan (Rajan P. Dev), as the new CM. Mahesh Nair (Devan), a notorious terrorist, arrives in Kerala upon the order of Swami. He kills Sharath Chandran, which forces Madhavan to react violently. Madhavan raids the ashram and spoils Swami's plot to cause a series of bomb blasts in the state. In the climax, Madhavan kills Swami and Mahesh Nair, thus saving the state from a series of blasts and communal riots.

Cast

Filming

The film was shot mostly in and around Kovalam. A large part was also shot in Kozhikode. It was produced by P. V. Gangadharan for Grihalakshmi Productions. The camera was done by Ravi K. Chandran and editing by L. Bhoominathan. Rajamani did the background score, and Boban was the art director.

Casting

Initially, director Shaji Kailas and scriptwriter Renji Panicker had planned to rope in Mammootty to do the lead role in this flick. Suresh Gopi was also part of the initial star cast, but his role was that of the second hero. But after hearing the script, Mammootty told Shaji Kailas that he is not impressed with the dialogues. A disappointed Shaji Kailas decided to start the movie with Suresh Gopi in the lead, and the originally planned role for Suresh was later given to Siddique. Surprisingly, the crime thriller shattered many collection records and marked the birth of a new superstar in Mollywood - Suresh Gopi. This is also the rise of a second action hero superstar ever in Malayalam Cinema after Jayan. The mammoth success of Ekalavyan helped Suresh Gopi to fetch more action-oriented roles.[5]

Box office

The film was a commercial success and ran for 200 days in theaters.[2]

This movie was remade in Hindi as Singham Returns in 2014. Starring Ajay Devgan[6]

References
  1. "10 Suresh Gopi films to watch before you die". The Times of India. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. "They too stirred up a hornet's nest: Pre-social media Malayalam films that sparked controversy". The Indian Express. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. "Rohit Shetty gets nostalgic about Singham". Telangana Today. IANS. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  4. https://m.filmfare.com/features/we-list-down-5-bollywood-movies-which-found-their-inspiration-down-south-27242.html
  5. https://www.ibtimes.co.in/five-malayalam-movies-rejected-by-mammootty-which-turned-out-be-blockbusters-776020
  6. https://www.filmfare.com/features/we-list-down-5-bollywood-movies-which-found-their-inspiration-down-south-27242-1.html
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